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TFTlXS 


Chap,.Copyright No, 

SheIf..QL__£.8 8 


UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 























































T H K . 


MOTORMAH’S GUIDE 


A PRACTICAL TREATISE 


Street Railway Motors 


How to liecome a Practical Motorman 



J. W. GAYETTY and.T. F. GRABER 

PROPRIETORS 

Rooms 7 and 8, 856 Broadway, Oakland, Cal, 
PRICE, . $1.00 






T F U S 


Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1896 
By J. W. GAYETTY, 

In the office of the Librarian of Congress at 
Washington, D. C. 



f 




Advocate Press, Berkeley 






-f 


CONTENTS 


1. Introduction 

2. Car Wiring 

3. How to locate trouble in your Car while on 

the road 

4. How to cut out a Motor 

5. Information on “K” Controllers 

6. How to locate trouble in a reversing Switch 

and how to overcome it 

7. How to reverse a Car in order to obtain 

best effects 

8. Points about Motors that should be looked 

after closely 

9. Short Circuits. What a Short Circuit 

means and how to locate it 

10. Information on Incandescent Light Cir¬ 

cuits 

11. Electric Motor force, or how armature 

rotation is obtained 

12. How to increase the speed of a Motor by 

changing two connections 



13- General information on Westinghouse 
Motors 

14. Westinghouse Fuse Block 

15. “ Lightening Arresters 

16 . “ Lamp Circuit 

17. Information on open Circuits and Spark¬ 

ing Brushes 

18. Some questions you may be called upon to 

answer 

19. Points of interest to all. 

20. Conclusion 

21. Diagram of Car 


Introductioi]. 


Iq presenting this pocket edition to 
the public I will say that it has been the 
author’s intention to confine himself 
exclusively to points of interest to the 
Motormen of the country, realizing, as I 
do, that there is not, nor has there ever 
been, anything written which would dis¬ 
close to this class the knowledge they 
seek. 

In order to do this it is my intention 
to define everything pertaining to street 
R. K. Motors in the simplest manner, 
omitting all algebraic and other terms 
such as have served in all books 
previously written, to prevent you from 
comprehending their meaning. And if 
strict attention is paid to the teachings 


6 



and instructions herein contained, you 
will be able to withstand the most rigid 
examination from your Superintendent, 
real or anticipated, as well as to make an 
intelligible report of the defects and the 
work to be done on your car and motors. 
It is not ger.erally known, but it is a fact, 
nevertheless, that all Motormen on all 
street railways are to be examined by a 
State Board of Examiners yet to be ap¬ 
pointed by the Governor of each State, 
as to their qualifications and capabilities 
to hold the positions they are now filling. 

It stands to reason that those found 
wanting will have to go, and those who 
have devoted a little of their leisure time 
to profitable study, will succeed them. 
It is in order, right here, to state that the 
man of influence is going to have some 
hard studying and become posted, or 
step down and out, as the pull cannot 
hold him. He must possess a thorough 
knowledge of his business, or those who 
do will certainly succeed him. 

It is indeed necessary to repeat here 

6 


that old adage, “a still tongue makes a 
wise head;” and what is meant by using 
the saying is, what you learn keep to 
yourself; or in other words, do not lend 
your book to anyone, for as the saying 
goes, “one man prospers by his fellow- 
man’s downfall.” So do not assist in 
your own downfall. 

Eecognizing the fact that not one 
Motorman in twenty thoroughly under¬ 
stands his motors, I feel that I am giving 
them great value for their money, and at 
the same time furnishing them with the 
means of holding a position on any line 
they may be employed on. While serv¬ 
ing as foreman in different car houses, the 
author has been able to gain a great 
many pointers that will come up on the 
examination of Motormen and conductors, 
and having possessed these, together 
with my knowledge of electricity, I feel 
perfectly safe in stating that they cannot 
ask you any question that I have not hon¬ 
estly and correctly answered in this little 
book. If you wish to learn the value of this 

7. 


book, go to your electrician, or man in 
charge of your motors, and ask him for in¬ 
formation, and then, and not until then,will 
you learn the true value of this book. It 
has always been understood by all elec¬ 
tricians or foremen of car houses, that no 
information of any importance be given 
to anyone outside of their class, and con¬ 
sequently most men running cars to-day 
are ignorant of their motors. 

Now that 1 have dissolved partnership 
with that class of people, I am at liberty 
to impart to Motormen and conductors 
how to thoroughly understand and man 
their machines, regardless of what my 
brother electricians may deem fii to say 
or think about me. I have honestly 
served my time, and think I have a right 
to suit my own pleasure in regard to 
what use I make of my experience. 

Having been a Motorman myself I 
know how insignificant a man is and how 
small he feels when running a car with 
no knowledge whatever of his motors. 

It has been my experience to see hun- 

8 


dreds of cars turned in off the road by 
Motormen who were asked by housemen 
what the trouble was. Well, of course 
their answer would be, simply “I don’t 
know.” 

And they should not be held responsi¬ 
ble for what they have had no chance or 
opportunity to learn. 

It will be well for me state here that it 
is the earnest desire of every company 
owning and operating electric roads to 
have each and everyone of their em¬ 
ployees thoroughly understand the com¬ 
plete workings of their motors, for it 
would be a saving of thousands of dollars 
each year to them. 

On the other hand it is the same 
amount of money in the different electric 
companies’ pockets to keep the men in 
ignorance. 

Now, then, you are aware that neither 
of the companies will protect you in 
ignorance, so it behooves you to work 
out your own salvation, and the sooner 


9 


you grasp the opportunity, the better for 
you and your family. 

I propose to write this book just as I 
have learned it from actual experience 
and hard work on motors, and it will be 
more valuable to you than a book written 
by highly educated electricians where 
nothing but highly electrical terms and 
phrases are used. 

There are a number of such books 
now on the market that Motormen have 
bought at fancy prices and after reading 
they are just as much in the dark as 
before they read them. In fact they sel¬ 
dom look at them the second time, for 
the simple reason that the Motormen of 
to-day are totally unprepared for such 
works, and cannot understand them. 

It is foreign reading to them and was 
never intended to give them any informa¬ 
tion of what they ought to know. 
Knowing the above stjitement to be 
facts, I propose to write this book in 
plain Motorman’s language, starting in 
from the very beginning the same as if 

10 


you had never seen a car, and carry you 
right along through, explaining in detail 
every part of a street car motor, and will 
confine myself to actual information 
necessary to the Motorman. 


11 


^ Practical II|otorn]ai?. 


Car Cfliriiig. 

It is very necessary that each and 
every Motorman should thoroughly un¬ 
derstand how a car is wired, and then in 
case one of the connections break, he can 
readily find it and repair it. You will 
find in this pocket edition a complete 
drawing of the wiring of a car with two 
motors wired in multiple. 

By following very closely the explana¬ 
tion here given with your drawing before 
you, it will be very easy to understand it, 
and it will enable you to trace your cur¬ 
rent from the trolley wire through the 
different parts of your car to the ground. 

Commencing at the trolley head, or 
wheel, it is received from the trolley wire 

12 




thence down the trolley pole to trolley 
stand, there you will find the first con" 
nection made connecting your trolley 
with the car wire. Your current and 
wire leads from the trolley stand to the 
front over-head cut-out box, where two 
connections are made; crossing same, 
returns along roof of car to rear over¬ 
head cut-out box, where also two connec¬ 
tions are found; crossing cut-out box, 
wire runs down corner post of car to the 
fuse box with two more connections, it 
runs to the lightning arrester crossing, 
with two connections. 

After leaving the lightning arrester it 
runs along the flooring of your car to the 
controller, or resistance coils, which 
receives it with one connection and dis¬ 
patches it with another. 

Leaving resistance coils it runs direct 
to your field coils through what is termed 
the end wire, where a connection is made. 

Passing through the field coils it re¬ 
turns out of the same through the field 


13 


ground-wire where a connection is made 
with the fields and field ground-wire. 

It next runs direct to the reverse 
switch; connecting with same it crosses 
and connects with the positive brush 
lead, which conducts it to the commuta¬ 
tor where a connection is made on to the 
brush or carbon holder. 

It is then received by the armature 
from the commutator. Passing through 
the armature it returns through and is 
received by the negative brush lead and 
conducted back to the reverse - switch 
with same connections made as when 
crossing before. 

Crossing reverse switch, it is received 
by the motor ground-wire which runs to 
and is connected on to the front end of 
motor casing. 

The above is a correct illustration of 
car wiring and current tracing, and when 
reading, by frequent reference to the 
accompanying cut or drawing, can be 
readily understood. 

The high speed or loop wire takes the 

U 


same course as the end wire connected to 
your controller, with all resistance cut out 
it runs direct to the field coils, side by 
side with your end wire, passing through 
field coils, returns through and out field 
ground wire; there is only one field 
ground-wire and consequently the fields 
discharge the current received from both 
the loop and end wire through the same 
wire It must also be borne in mind 
that the field coils receive current from 
one wire at a time; when receiving from 
the end wire the loop is cut out, also 
when receiving from the loop wire the end 
wire is cut out. 

The current received by the field coils 
through the loop or high-speed wire 
returns out the field ground wire, and 
runs direct to the reverse switch, cross¬ 
ing same, to positive brush lead, thence 
to commutator, into armature. Out of 
armature, through negative brush lead, 
back to reverse switch, crossing to motor 
ground-wire to the casing on motor. 


15 


Terminal or Field Wires 


There are three wires leading into the 
field-coils, and it is very necessary for a 
Motorman to know and be able to distin¬ 
guish one from another, which is very 
easily done if you will pay strict attention 
to the following description. 

The inside wire on each field coil is the 
end wire. To be more sure and explicit, 
we will say the wire nearest the gearing, 
on the opposite motor, is the end wire. 
The location of the end wire can be more 
readily understood after we locate the 
loop and field ground-wire. 

The loop or high-speed wire is the cen¬ 
ter or middle wire. The outside wire on 
each machine is the field ground wire, or 
the wire nearest the ends of the car. 

By referring to the car-wiring cut with 
the above explanation you can post your¬ 
self thoroughly, and know positively 
which wires to disconnect in case one of 
your motors becomes disabled. 


16 



How to Locate Trouble on a Car 
while Running on the Road 


This, perhaps, is the most difficult prob¬ 
lem a Motorman is called upon to solve, 
and one which occurs to him almost 
daily. It does not matter whether a 
motor is new or old, there is quite a num¬ 
ber of thing's could happen to it at any 
moment, and you want to be posted so 
as to be able to locate and fix it quickly 
and make time. 

If your car, while on the road, should 
lose the power, and fail to respond to 
your controller, first ascertain if the 
trouble is at the power station by trying 
your light circuit. If your lamps light 
you know the trouble is in your car; such 
being the case, yom will examine the 
overhead cutout switches, as some mis¬ 
chievous person may have thrown one of 
them off. Finding both switches O. K., 
examine your fuse, as they often melt off. 
Finding this O. K., next examine your 
reversing switch by throwing switch both 


17 



ways, as quite often cars will throw the 
reverse on the center while rounding a 
curve, especially cars equipped with cable 
controllers. I have seen quite a number 
of cars laid out on the road from this 
cause alone, the Motorman having exam¬ 
ined the car thoroughly, and overlooking 
this particular part. Finding this O. K., 
it is then necessary for you to run over 
all connections, as one of them may have 
broken off. If you find them all intact, 
you have performed all the duty that is 
expected of you, for if the trouble is not 
found by the above inspection, it lies in 
your motors, and is beyond your reach, 
consequently you will not be held respon¬ 
sible. 

A Motorman cannot be too thorough 
in his investigations, for he can easily 
overlook a broken feed wire, which if 
found after his reporting everything O. K. 
would place him in an unfavorable light 
with the electrician or house foreman in 
charge. 

It is very easy for every man to famil¬ 
iarize himself with every connection on or 

18 


about his car, as you have an abundance 
of time while on the road or at the car 
house. Practice makes perfect, and if 
you will study a little along with your 
practice, you will be rewarded for so 
doing, as a man who thoroughly under¬ 
stands his car and its workings is soon 
found out and receives more than ordin¬ 
ary attention both from his employer and 
his fellow men. 


The Proper Way to Cut Out Dif 
ferent Motors 


There are a great many Motormen who 
do not know how to intelligently cut a 
motor out of circuit in case it gets dis¬ 
abled, and this information is intended 
for those who do not know; who have 
tried to get it in vain. I have seen cars 
brought in off the road with every wire 
disconnected that the Motorman could 
find about the machine. In such cases 
the men are only guessing at the result 

19 




and consequently are scared half to death 
for fear they have done somethiug that 
will incur the displeasure of the electric¬ 
ian in charge. 

There are different ways of cutting out 
a motor. One way is simple and quick: 
remove the carbons or brushes. But it 
will be well for me to state that removing 
the brushes will not be allowed by some 
electricians, as it is not the safest plan on 
account of some brush holders coming in 
too close contact with your commutator. 
If you can get permission from your elec¬ 
trician in charge to cut out a motor by 
removing the brushes, it would be easier 
for you and would exonerate you in case 
of trouble. 

The proper and safest way is to discon¬ 
nect the end and loop wires from the 
terminal board, which makes you abso¬ 
lutely safe. This can be done very 
quickly if you have a small wrench at 
hand. Remove the small bolts or screws 
that hold the wires to the field coils or 
terminal board. After removing bolts or 


20 


screws, bend wire back and away from 
connections, replace bolts and your motor 
is dead and free from harm. The 
above method of cutting out a motor 
only pertains to the general electric 
system equipped with the rheostat 
controller, but may be applied to 
the J controller, providing you are 
close to the car house and do not have a 
very great distance to travel, as cutting 
out a motor equipped with the J. con¬ 
troller by removing the brushes, your 
motor in circuit will not respond until 
the third speed notch is reached, which 
gives a heavy jerk to your machinery. 
All controllers on cars equipped with the 
general electric system are fast being 
supplanted by their latest type of con¬ 
troller, known as form K, and it seems to 
meet a more universal approval than any 
other yet devised. The controller known 
as form K can be used with a single 
equipped motor if desired, but it has been 
designed for use where double motor 
equipments are used. At the base of 


21 



each controller will be found two double 
throw switches, by which either motor 
can be cut out of circuit. When it is 
desired that both motors should be in 
circuit, as is ordinarily the case, both 
switches should be down. To cut out 
motor number one (which is motor near¬ 
est fuse box) throw up left-hand switch, 
leaving right-hand switch down; to cut 
out motor number two (which is the 
motor farthest from fuse box) throw up 
right hand switch, leaving left-hand switch 
down. 


Instructions for Operating and 
Care of K Controllers 


When using this controller at one end 
of the car the position of cut-out switch 
in the other controller is immaterial if 
the idle controller is at “off” position. 

The following method will inform you 
bow to keep this controller in good con¬ 
dition. To examine this controller, open 


22 




cover, remove bolt with wrench attached 
and swing around the pole piece of the 
magnet, which will expose to your view 
the cylinder contacts, which should always 
be kept clean. 

The reversing cylinder is also accessi¬ 
ble as soon as the cover has been swung 
open. The cylinder plates and fingers 
resting on them should be given par¬ 
ticular attention, and their surface kept 
in good - condition. A little vaseline 
should be used on cylinder contacts to 
prevent them from cutting. All bearings 
should be kept lubricated. In operating 
this controller the handles should be 
steadily moved from notch to notch. The 
position of cylinder is indicated by a 
pointer moving over a dial, which is 
placed on top of controller, and the posi¬ 
tion can be felt also as the cylinder moves 
from notch to notch. The motors are in 
series, with resistance on first and second 
points, which should be used only for 
starting. On fifth point motors are par¬ 
allel with resistance. This point is de- 


23 


signed merely to sinooth action of con¬ 
trollers, and should not be used as a 
runuing point under any consideration. 
To secure best efficiency for continuous 
operation use points 3, 4, 6 or 7, as at 
these points resistance is entirely short 
circuited. Observe the above rules and 
you will have no trouble with this most 
popular controller. 


How to Locate Trouble in a 
Reverse Switch, and how to 
Overcome it. 


In using the rheostat controller, your 
controlling cable often gets caught on 
the reversing cable, which throws it on 
the center, thus breaking the connection. 
This same trouble is liable to happen on 
double truck cars. The reversing cable 
being slack, gets caught on the truck, 
and when rounding a curve the truck will 
pull it on the center. A Motorman will 
do well to watch this closely. 


24 




In other and later devices of car con¬ 
trollers, the reversing switch is not so 
liable to trouble; but nevertheless do not 
fail to examine your reverse switch, in 
case your car is dead, for ofttimes the 
trouble lies there. 

Your reverse cable or rods, whichever 
your car may be equipped with, sometimes 
become broken or disconnected at the 
reverse switch, and you are unable to 
reverse your car with the reversing 
handles. Should this happen to you, get 
under your car to the reverse switch and 
pull it into the desired position with your 
hands, or perhaps you may have to use a 
pry to accomplish it. In either case, don’t 
fail to reverse it, for it will go to show 
that you understand your business. 

On roads of any length it is necessary 
for you to know how to reverse your car 
in spite and independent of your reverse 
switch. In some cases the reverse contact 
plates become soldered together, which 
makes it impossible for a Mutorman out 
on the road to use it in any manner. If 


25 


such a case should happen when out on 
the road, and you could not use your 
reverse, proceed to disconnect your four 
brush leads from the brush holders and 
cross them, which will answer the same 
purpose as your reverse switch, and will 
carry you safely to the car house. 

If your car has only one motor, the 
same rule will work. Dross the brush 
leads and the car is reversed. This must 
be practiced only in extreme cases, such 
as are mentioned above, and must be done 
correctly. 


How to Reverse a Car in Order 
to Obtain Best Effects. 


How to reverse your car in case of 
accidents, to produce the best effects. 

As a general rule a Motorman, while 
running on the road, is not looking for an 
accident. In most cases where accidents 
take place, they come so quickly that the 


26 




Motorman is totally unprepared for them, 
and consequently, before he can grasp 
the entire situation, he has run into the 
object in question. 

From experience I have found the 
following mode of reversing to be most 
effective: 

When you see that quick action on your 
part is necessary to avert an accident, 
which compels you to reverse your motor, 
first, before pulling your reverse handle, 
pull your brake on with your right hand 
as far as it will go with one pull; which 
being done will retard the momentum of 
your armature, and will better enable it 
to receive the current when you throw 
the reverse. At the same time you pul] 
on your breka, release the current with 
your left hand. By that time you have 
your right hand free to throw your 
reverse. Your left hand being on the 
controller, you turn on current. 

Turn on very little current, for you can 
easily turn on too much, which would have 
the effect of throwing out the breakers at 


27 


the house, or blow your fuse. In either 
case your power is lost. 

Turning on too much power would not 
have the desired effect, (if your fuse did 
not burn out, and the breakers at the 
power station remain intact)for the simple 
reason that it would send your drive 
wheels spinning on the rail without check¬ 
ing the momentum of your car. So it 
stands to reason that the slower your 
wheels turn, the better service they will 
render in stopping your car. 

In most cases where accidents cause a 
Motorman to reverse his car, as soon as he 
throws the reverse, he immediately turns 
his controller right on to the loop, which 
sets the wheels to spinning so fast that 
his car goes ahead without seeming to 
mind the reverse. Of course he is at a 
loss to know why she don’t hold. Some 
Motormen condemn the car and say it is 
the fault of the machines, when rightfully 
the fault lies with them. 

There are extreme cases where a Motor- 
man does not have even time to release 


28 


bis current. In such cases a Motorman 
needs no enlightenment. All he can do 
is to pull his reverse. That will show that 
he is alive to the situation, and will save 
being censured by the Superintendent, 
who would certainly ask him why he did 
not reverse his car. 

A Motorman who has acted in that 
capacity for any length of time, has had 
it thoroughly drilled into him that up to 
this date, as a general rule, the brakes on 
electric cars are inadequate in cases of 
emergency. 

As the lives of passengers as well as his 
own safety depend solely upon his prompt 
action, he ought to be exceedingly care¬ 
ful, and prompt himself on every detail in 
connection with his reversing device, for 
unless you know how to reverse a car you 
will get very poor results. 

By thoroughly understanding the above 
method, you will have more chance for 
safety than if you go at it blind and by 
guess. 


29 


Points about Motors that should 
be Examined Often 


It is much cheaper to pre^vent accidents 
than to repair damages. The liability to 
accidents may be reduced aud the profits 
of the road correspondingly increased by 
careful inspection of the apparatus at 
regular intervals, and this should be 
insisted upon. The saving in repairs 
will more than equal the cost of the in¬ 
spection. A Motorman should, on arriv¬ 
ing at the end of the road, examine cer¬ 
tain parts of his car without fail. To do 
this correctly, and feel safe when starting 
on your return trip that everything is in 
perfect working order, you -will first 
examine your armatured bearings and see 
that the compound lubricating cups are 
filled, or enough compound in them to 
insure their safe running, for it is often 
the case that armature bearings become 
hot and melt the compound, which will 
soon wind you up in a disabled condition. 


30 



whereas timely inspection will prevent 
this trouble. 

The next part to be examined is your 
carbons or brushes. These very often 
become broken or cracked, which will 
cause them to arc, and if they are run in 
that condition for any length of time will 
cause your commutator to become so hot 
that it will short circuit, or may ground 
your brush holder. In either case your 
motor will have to be cut out of circuit. 

Brushes should make good contact 
with the commutator. Reach down and 
take out each brush in order to ascertain 
whether it moves freely in the brush 
holder. They should not bind, as this 
might cause poor contact. In putting 
brushes back, get the same brush in the 
same holder and have the same side up. 
They will make better contact if put back 
exactly in the same position as they were 
found. Notice the temperature of the 
field coils and armature. A loose or bro¬ 
ken connection might interfere with the 
proper distribution of current between 


31 


the two motors. Do not allow the fields 
or armature on one motor to beeorne 
warmer than the other motor, for in such 
case it is doing more than its share of the 
work. If you cannot remedy the trouble 
on the road report to car inspector. 

The next part to be examined is your 
gearings. See that they are not running 
dry. Examine your wheel boxes, and if 
you find any of them running hot, lubri¬ 
cate them with oil. Next see that your 
brakes are perfect and that all shoes make 
good contact with the wheels. Next see 
that your trolley wheel is true with the 
trolley wire, and keep the wheel well oiled. 
The life of a trolley wheel will depend 
upon the quality of the metal of which it 
IS made and upon the number of miles it 
travels. New wheels should be put in as 
soon as the wear of the old ones is suffi¬ 
cient to cause them to make a rattling 
noise when running, and to flash badly 
when passing the trolley supports. 
Wheels should be oiled every night or 
morning, and the Motorman should oil 


32 


them during the day if found necessary. 
The more frequently they are oiled the 
longer they will last. 

The tension of the springs in the base 
of the trolley should be sufficient to keep 
the trolley wheel firmly pressed against 
the wire at any speed which the car may 
reach. If there is a flashing between the 
wheel and wire when the car is running 
fast, this is caused by the springs being 
too weak, and they should be tightened. 
It has been my experience to see trolley 
wheels become hot, wear off, and drop to 
the ground, which causes any amount of 
trouble and annoyance; for in such case 
the conductor is compelled to mount the 
roof of the car and hold the trolley pole 
against the wire until the car house is 
reached. By timely and frequent inspec¬ 
tion this trouble can very often be 
avoided. 

Motormen having examined their cars 
as above directed will merit the approval 
of their superintendent, and have hon¬ 
estly discharged the duties of a first-class 
Motorman. 


36 


Short Circuits — What a Short Cir¬ 
cuit Means—How to Locate it. 


Perhaps there is no other electrical term 
so much used as the term short circuit. 
There are a great many Motormen who 
have heard the term, but have never had 
it explained satisfactorily. As a conse¬ 
quence they call every little trouble that 
comes along a “short circuit.” For 
example, during my employment on one 
of the most popular electric railways on 
the Pacific coast, of which I was foreman, 
I was called out on the road one night by 
one of the oldest Motormen. On arriving 
at his car, I asked the usual questions as 
to what was the trouble. His answer was, 
“I think there is a short circuit in one of 
my motors.” I examined the motor and 
found the feed wire which runs to the 
controller, burned off. As a matter of 
fact, his car was dead, and as he didn’t 
know what else to say in reply to my 
question, he gave it as his opinion that his 
car was “short circuited.” 


34 



Now, one would not think that a man 
who had run a motor for three years, 
would be so ignorant of his machine as 
that, but nevertheless it is a fact. 

Now, there are different ways in which 
a motor can be “short circuited;” but 
the term means that the current has been 
thrown out of its regular channel at some 
point before reaching its destination. For 
example, some of the lead wires come in 
contact with another wire, and the insu¬ 
lation becomes worn off, causing a “ short 
circuit,” and causing your motor to jump 
and jerk. It is always very easy to locate 
it, as it will cause an “ arc ” when the cur¬ 
rent is applied. Or you may have a short 
circuit in your armature, which will 
always show up in the same way. 

You can most always find it by having 
your conductor apply a little current 
while you raise the trap-door and watch 
your motor. 

Such short circuits are generally caused 
by the insulation being knocked off of 
one or more of the armature coils at the 


35 


point where the wire is bent over the end 
of the armature core, as it comes in very 
close contact with the motor frame or 
case during its rotation, and once it is 
bare, it takes but a short time to burn out 
a coil, and sometimes more, which incurs 
quite an expense to your company to 
repair it. You should use every effort in 
your power to prevent it, by releasing 
your current as soon as a jerk or jump is 
felt. Do not proceed until you have 
found the cause of it. 

Again, if you should run through a 
pool of water deep enough to come up 
into your motor case, it will most invar¬ 
iably ‘‘short circuit” your motors by 
making a contact clear around your com¬ 
mutator, which is supposed to be insu¬ 
lated, one bar from another. So, when 
you come to a pool of water on' your 
track, always give your car speed enough 
to carry it through the water by gravity, 
or release your current before striking 
the water. Also open your overhead cut¬ 
out box, thus preventing the current from 


36 




contact with the water, and you are usu¬ 
ally carried over in safety. 

There are a great many other things 
which might be mentioned on this sub¬ 
ject, but as space is limited, I think there 
has been enough said to teach you the 
difference between a short circuit and a 
feed wire being burned off. 

It comes in line, however, while treat¬ 
ing on ‘‘ short circuits,” to call your atten¬ 
tion to the trouble caused by your cur¬ 
rent becoming grounded, which acts in 
many cases much the same as a short 
circuit. Ground circuits are even more 
severe and effectual in causing jour car 
to come to a sudden stop, or blowing the 
circuit-breaker at the power station, than 
a short circuit, for if any of your feed 
wires become bare of insulation, and 
should come in direct contact with any 
portion of the trucks, you will experience 
quite a sudden jar in your speed, which 
will lead you to think that you have run 
up against a brick wall, or something of 
that sort, and at the same time generally 


37 


knocks out a circuit-breaker at the power 
station, and blows the fuse in your car. 

In the majority of cases it is not a fre¬ 
quent occurrence, but nevertheless it 
occurs occasionally that your commutator 
becomes grounded onto the armature 
shaft. In such cases the motor thus 
‘affected will refuse to work. Sometimes 
it will cause a flash or “ arc,” but in most 
cases it will just jump and jerk, and you 
will see smoke arising from your motor 
casing. 

Should you have a car that is equipped 
with a single motor, in most cases it will 
not move when the current is applied, but 
stand still, and if you should allow the 
current to remain turned on for a minute 
or so, you will be able to smell that some¬ 
thing is burning. But in such cases, 
never try to run your car until you first 
cut out your motor that is grounded. 

Kemember, as I have already explained 
to you, that while a short circuit is, in 
some ways, very much like a grounded 
circuit, and often causes very similar 


38 


effects, still they are two separate and 
distinct interferences, and should be 
handled with great care, as in either case 
you are liable to damage your motor ser¬ 
iously if you fail to cut out the disabled 
one before proceeding on your trip. 

Then there is burning out of field coils, 
which is quite a frequent occurrence on 
roads where there are heavy grades, or 
where high speed motors are used. This 
is caused, principally, by an over-taxation 
of the fields- which will cause them to 
become overhi^ated, and this unnatural 
heat will, in time, cause the insulation on 
the field wires to become charred, which 
finally allows the current to jump across 
from one wire to another, thus causing a 
short circuit in the field, which will burn 
it out in short order. 

Now if your motor should show any of 
the above mentioned disorders, and you 
are not able to locate it at once, a very 
quick and reliable way to locate it is by 
cutting out one of the motors—that is if 
you have a car equipped with two. After 


39 


you have cut one out, try it by applying 
the current, and if you find that the one 
YOU have in circuit refuses to run, or jerks 
when the current is applied, then it is 
reasonable to believe that the trouble 
lies in that motor, and that the other one 
is all right. Cut out the disabled motor, 
and after cutting the other one in you 
may proceed to the car house. 

But I would not advise you to run 
any further than is necessary without 
first reporting the trouble at headquarters, 
as you are liable to damage the other 
motor by so doing; as you are now mak¬ 
ing one motor do the work that is intended 
for both motors fo do. 

But if you should try both of your 
motors by cutting them out as described 
above, and find that your car still jerks, 
then it is reasonable to believe that your 
trouble is caused by a short circuit or 
ground in some of your wires. But you 
can usually determine as to that by the 
way she acts. 


40 


Information on Incandescent 
Light Circuits 


It may be of borne value to you to know 
how to prevent yourself from being left 
in the dark in case your light circuit 
gives out on you during your run, which 
is a very common occurrence. 

Every man who has ever worked on an 
electric road for any length of time, has 
either had his lights go out in his own 
car, or has seen some other car going 
along in total darkness. As we all know, 
it is very dangerous to run a car at night 
without a headlight, and it is also against 
the laws of most cities to do so. There¬ 
fore if behooves you to educate yourself 
on this branch of street railroading suffici¬ 
ently to be able to cope successfully with 
any little trouble wnich may occur to you 
while running a car. By so doing you 
will avoid being looked upon with disgust 
by your foreman or electrician in charge, 
as it is really disgusting to a house-man 


41 



to be called away from his work to go out 
on the road to fix a light circuit for a man 
who has probably run three or four miles 
without any light, and on investigating it 
finds that possibly the only trouble is a 
lamp burned out. 

All cars are equipped with a three-way 
switch. Should your lights go out on 
you, begin your investigation by trying 
your switch both ways. If your lights 
still refuse to work,- then investigate the 
lamps on the inside of your car, for if it 
is one on either end of your car, or more 
properly speaking, if it is one of the hood 
lamps that is broken, they will light up 
when you throw your switch the opposite 
way from what it was when they went 
out. 

After trying your switch both ways and 
they still refuse to light, then take each 
lamp from its socket, and if you have no 
other light to see by, light a match and 
hold the lamp up between you and the 
light and you can see whether or not the 
carbon filament is burned off. Try each 


42 


one thus until you have found the one 
burned out—that, is providing the trouble 
is caused by a burned out lamp. Should 
you find one burned out, replace it with a 
new one if you have one with you. But 
if you have not do not give up and run in 
the dark. If your car is wired so as to 
cut out the front hood lamp of your car, 
then take out that lamp and put it in 
place of the burned out one, and when 
you get to the end of the line change the 
hood lamp from the front end of your car 
to the rear end, and thus you can run 
until turning in time without bothering 
the men at the car house for a lamp. But 
should your car be wired in such a way 
that all your lamps are burning at the 
same time, (except of course you always 
have a spare lamp in your headlight— 
that is if you use electric headlights) but 
that is too unhandy to change at each 
end, so take the lamp that has been 
burned out, break the glass globe and 
take the two small wires which lead 
through the butt of the lamp and twist 


43 


them together, and then you have what is 
called a plug. Eeplace it in the socket 
where you took the burned out lamp 
from and turn on your switch, which will 
give you a much brighter light than you 
had before, as you now have only four 
lamps burniog on your circuit, and of 
course your lamps burn at a higher volt¬ 
age. 

Now remember I only recommend this 
to be done in case of emergency, and you 
should always send word to the car house 
for them to send you a lamp as soon as 
possible, or get one from a passing car, 
as you are liable to burn all your lamps 
out by burning them at so high a voltage, 
if you do not replace the burned out one 
in a reasonable length of time. 

But I consider that it would be even 
more reasonable, and meet with a more 
universal approval, even should you burn 
out all of your lamps, than to undertake 
to run in the dark without a light, and 
thereby cause the death of some human 
being, or even smash a wagon. 


U 


Here is another little point that may 
become useful to you in locating trouble 
in light circuits. After you have examined 
all of your lamps and have failed to find 
any of them that show anything wrong, 
then examine your light circuit switch, as 
one of the contact plates may become 
twisted or bent out of place. 

If you find such to be the case, pull 
down your trolley and take your screw¬ 
driver or your pliers, and straighten it 
out so as to make it come in contact with 
the revolving portion of the switch, then 
all is O. K. But if you find your contact 
O. K., then examine the wires leading into' 
the switch, and see that none of them are 
broken or burned off. . 

Next go on top of the car and see that 
the connection at the trolley base is not 
broken off. Then follow the wires along 
the roof of car, as in some cases the trol¬ 
ley will jump off while running at a high 
rate of speed, and strike a span wire and 
rebound to the roof of the car, the flanges 
of the trolley wheel strike one of the 


45 


small wires and cut it so as to cause it to 
burn off after a little. If, after all this, 
you fail to find anything wrong, (of course 
always ascertaining that the fuse is not 
gone,) then you should return to the 
lamps, as j ou are most sure you will find 
the trouble there. 

Often a lamp will become useless and 
refuse to illuminate, and still the carbon 
or wire in it will look all right. An 
incandescent lamp must be air-tight or it 
is no good; and sometimes a lamp that is 
not perfect in construction will work all 
right for a time and then all at once will 
become useless, caused by a small leak 
somewhere around the butt ’^here the 
globe is fastened to it. You can locate a 
lamp that is disabled in this way by taking 
a lamp out of the socket and take your 
screwdriver and make a connection in 
the sopket by placing your screwdriver so 
as to touch both sides of the socket at 
once. Any kind of metal will do if you 
have no screwdriver. When you come to 
the affected lamp and remove it and 


46 


make the contact in socket, as aho’V^e 
described, the rest of your lamps .will 
light up. Then you can fix the disabled 
lamp as described above. 

By following up these instructions you 
will seldom be compelled to call for help 
in case of trouble with your lights, nor 
will you have to run your car without 
lights. 

An incandescent light circuit is a very 
simple thing, and you should learn 
enough about it to be able to care for 
your lamps, as there is seldom anything 
seriously wrong with them. 


47 


Electric Motor Force, or How Ar¬ 
mature Rotation is Obtained, etc. 


During my experience as foreman of 
different electric car houses, I have had 
the question asked me hundreds of times 
by Motormen, as to how the rotation of 
an armature was caused. It is a ques¬ 
tion that is frequently asked by men who 
are ambitious to learn, and it is a ques¬ 
tion you seldom can secure an answer to. 
And while I do not consider myself com¬ 
petent to give you a very thorough ex¬ 
planation of it, still I will endeavor to 
give you an idea sufficiently plain to en¬ 
able you to understand how it is accomp¬ 
lished. 

All magnet bars have what is called a 
north and a south pole, or, more plainly 


48 




speaking, a positive and a negative end. 
One end is the positive, the other the 
negative. 

If you take two straight magnet bars 
and place them on a stand with the bear¬ 
ings exactly in the center, so that they 
will swing on this pivoted stand, then 
place them as close together as you can, 
so as to allow them to pass each other 
[ without striking; then place them at right 
I angles to each other, give them a little 

[ start and you will find that they will con- 

■. . tinue to revolve, as the north pole of one 
‘ will draw the south pole of the other, and 
. when the two opposite ends come to¬ 
gether, the speed of the bars (together 
with their weight), will carry them on past 
^ each other, and then the two opposite 

. ends are acted upon in the same manner, 

r and in that way motion is kept up. 

When a heavy current of electricity is 
passed from the trolley wire through the 
coils of insulated wire which surround 
these magnet bars, to the ground, the 


49 



attractive power of the magnet bars is 
greatly increased. 

I ^ive this illustration to start with 
because it is so simple; and still it may 
assist you to comprehend the principle of 
armature rotation, as the armature rota¬ 
tion is also procured principally from 
magnetism, and all magnetism is on the 
same principle, although it may be brought 
about in entirely different forms 

In a motor of the single reduction type 
there is but one field coil. This field coil, 
(which is the magnet coil), is placed 
around what is termed the pole piece. 
This pole piece is placed on the inside of 
the motor case, and is as near the arma¬ 
ture as will permit its rotation without 
causing friction. The current passing 
thi'ough this coil which is wound around 
the pole piece converts the pole piece 
into a very powerful magnet. The cur¬ 
rent passing through the armature also 
causes it to become magnetized, and the 
positive side of the armature is attracted 
or drawn to the pole piece. I say the 


50 




positive side of the armature because one 
of the brushes is the positive and the 
other the negative, all the time, and con¬ 
sequently the corresponding side of the 
armature is the same. 

Now, I have given you an illustration 
of how the negative side or end will 
attract the positive end of a bar, and the 
same rule will apply to the rotation of an 
armature; and the power of a motor is 
obtained, to a certain extent, by the field 
magnet having the advantage over the 
armature, by having a leverage on the 
pinion which is connected to the ends of 
the armature shaft, which works on the 
large gear wheel on the axle. This lever¬ 
age can be ascertained by measuring the 
circumference of the pinion and the cir¬ 
cumference of the armature, as the differ¬ 
ence in size is the amount of leverage 
which the magnetism of the field coils and 
the armature combined has over the pin¬ 
ion; and then another reduction in the 
draft is made in the difference between 
the size of the gearing. Without the ad- 


51 


vantage of this leverage, the electric, 
motor force would be insufficient to pro¬ 
pel the cars. 

This illustration has been given with a 
view to make it as plain to you as possible 
how electric motor force is obtained. 
Eealizing, as I do, that heretofore any 
explanation pertaining to this subject has 
always been kept beyond your reach, I 
have thought it best to make it as plain 
and simple as possible, that men with a 
limited amount of comprehending ability 
may be able to grasp the idea. 


52 


How to Increase the Speed of a 
Oar by Changing two Connec¬ 
tions. 


It is the ambition of every Motorman 
to understand thoroughly every little 
detail in connection with his car, and 
while it is my intention to impart to them 
in full everything practical and possible, 
it will be better for them not to practice 
the following, as I am only giving this as 
information, and “ where ignorance is 
bliss, ’tis folly to be wise.” As I have 
hinted before, what you learn keep to 
yourself, as in most cases proffered infor¬ 
mation creates a very disagreeable odor* 
I feel as though my readers ought to be 
lenient with me, and not practice anything 
that I impart to them that is intended 


53 



only for information, or that which is 
calculated to educate them in their line 
of work. 

Motormen understand that the speed 
of a motor is gauged by the winding in 
the armature and the size of the gearings. 
While this is true, there is still another 
and simple way of increasing the speed 
of your car by disconnecting your ground 
and end wire from your terminal board, 
or more plainly speaking, from the field 
coils, and cross them and connect again. 
That is, connect your end wire in the 
ground wire place, and the ground wire 
in the end wire place. Eemember that 
the end and ground wires are the outside 
wires, the middle one being the loop. 
This being done correctly will increase 
the speed. 


54 


General Information on Westing- 
house Motors. 


As there are a vast number of these 
popular machines in use in the United 
States, I feel that this little book would 
not be complete without treating upon a 
few of the most important points; and if 
you practice the following instructions, 
you will be able to handle a single reduc¬ 
tion Westinghouse motor with perfect 
safety. The Westinghouse electrical 
equipments for a car consist of the mot¬ 
ors, controlling stands or platform 
switches, two overhead cut-out switches, 
diverters, motor cut-out, lightning ar¬ 
rester, fuse block, trolley, lamp circuit 
and wire cables. Motormen and conduc¬ 
tors should be thoroughly familiar with 
the equipments, so as to be able to suc- 


65 




cessfully cope with any trouble that may 
arise while on the road. There are five 
points or notches to the controller, each 
of which gives a corresponding speed. It 
is not necessary to look at the switch 
when operating it, for the notches are 
determined by feeling only. On the first 
notch the four sections of the diverter, 
the field coils and the armature are all in 
series. The succeeding notches cut out 
the diverter sections in their order as 
numbered, and the fifth notch leaves only 
the field coils and the armature in the 
circuit, and gives the highest speed. The 
upper and lower bearings of the cylinder 
and the small wheel at the upper end 
should be oiled occasionally. Use very 
little oil, and don’t allow it to run down 
on the cylinder. The cylinder contacts, 
or rings, should be rubbed off and very 
slightly moistened with grease to keep 
them from becoming dry and cutting. 
The Westinghouse controllers are con¬ 
structed and designed to give the car a 
forward motion when the handle is moved 


56 


from in the same manner as the 

hands of a watch go; and if they do not 
do so, it is because they are connected up 
wrong. Moving the controller in the 
opposite direction reverses the car. In 
cutting off the current, be very careful 
not to throw the handle beyond “off” 
position, as this would reverse the mot¬ 
ors, The handle of the controller should 
always be at “ off ” position when the car 
is standing still, even if the trolley is not 
on the wire. When one switch is in use, 
the other one should be at “ off.” Don't 
try any experiment to see what would happen 
if both switches were used at the same time. 
Before placing trolley on the wire, always 
examine both switches and see that they 
are at “off” position. Always leave 
switches in this position and remove 
handle when leaving your car. If at any 
time the controller should not work freely, 
pull down trolley and remove cover of 
controller. An inspection will probably 
show the trouble due to the want of oil, 
roughness of contacts, or something of 


57 


that kind. To start the car forward, 
throw the handle to the left from “ off ” 
to the first notch. Allowing the car to 
start before moving to second notch, 
make a pause and then move to third, 
and so on. Do not move suddenly from 
“ off ” to second notch. To run backward 
observe the same rules, but move handle 
from “off” to the right. Be careful to 
throw handle to first notch with the first 
move. Do not merely move it far enough 
to make contact, as it will burn your 
cylinder contacts and make your control¬ 
ler work hard. Never reverse your motors 
when the car is running forward, except in 
cases of extreme necessity, such as avoid¬ 
ing ^a collision, or to save life. If there is 
not time to stop your car with your brakes, 
reverse to the first or second notch, and 
keep the handle there until your car 
begins to move backwards. Don’t move 
it beyond the second notch, for then the 
wheels might spin around backwards, and 
your car would not stop as quickly as if 
they kept revolving in a forward direction. 


58 


Reversing is a severe strain on the motors, 
and should not be resorted to except when 
absolutely necessary. When switching 
on current, never jump notches. For 
instance, do not throw the handle from 
the first notch to the third, without mak¬ 
ing a pause at the second, but when 
switching the current off, throw the 
handle quickly and with a single motion 
to “off” position. Don’t go beyond this 
point, however. When going up grade, 
it is advisable to work at the fifth notch 
most of the time, as this is the most econ¬ 
omical position; and besides, the diverter 
coils are not designed to be used contin¬ 
uously when the car is heavily loaded, 
although they will stand it with safety for 
a considerable time. Go through all 
curves slowly, using first or second notch. 
It is better not to stop on very heavy 
grades or in curves, if it can be avoided. 
Run slowly through flooded places in the 
trapk, and when examining motors, never 
allow water to drip from your clothing or 
hat upon the motor. And always re- 


59 



member that any electrical trouble can be 
quickly stopped by pulling the trolley 
down or by throwing overhead switch. 
The Westinghouse company have a very 
simple aud easy device for cutting a motor 
oiit of circuit. They recognized the fact 
that the old style of disconnecting wires 
sometimes confuses Motormen, and have 
equipped their motors with a cut-out 
device, which is located inside the car, 
under the seats, about the middle of the 
car, a small trap-door being cut in the 
panel of the seat to permit it to be easily 
reached. You will find two plugs, pulling 
out either of which will cut out the motor 
on the respective, sides. That is, pull out 
the plug nearest the motor that is to be 
cut out, and your motor is dead. 


60 



Westinghouse Fuse Block. 


A fuse is placed on the car as a protec¬ 
tion to the motors. This fuse is connected 
into the wire running to the trolley, and 
is situated in any convenient position on 
the car. The fuse is not intended to melt 
or blow with ordinary, or even heavy 
loads, but is inserted as a precaution in 
case any of the wires of the car should 
become grounded or crossed. The 
capacity of this fuse should be deter¬ 
mined usually by the conditions of the 
road. Extra fuses should be carried on 
the car in a convenient place, and also a 
screwdriver, if the latter is required to 
replace a fuse. Before putting in a new 
fuse, pull trolley down from wire. With 
a single motor equipment use a 50 ampere 
fuse; with double equipments use a 75 
ampere fuse. Always pull trolley down 
when working at the switches, lamp cir¬ 
cuit, lightning arrester or fuse block, as 
you are absolutely safe if you take this 
precaution. 


61 



The Westingiiouse Lightning 
Arrester. 


Being entirely automatic in it action, it 
requires no adjustment after each dis¬ 
charge. It should be examined however 
after each storm as a matter of precaution. 
By removing triangular plate which closes 
the front of the arrester, the whole inter¬ 
ior may be inspected. The swinging 
arms must pass freely through the holes 
into the air-chamber, and the carbon tips 
should touch the carbon blocks, and when 
pressed in, should move them one-sixteenth 
of an inch before the flange strikes the 
marble. The air space between the 
toothed carbons should not be more than 
one-sixteenth of an inch. The screws 
should be firmly set, especially those hold¬ 
ing the plate on the window in the air 
chamber. 


62 



Westinghouse Lamp Circuit. 


The lamp, or lighting circuit of the car 
usually consists of fi^^e 100 volt lamps 
connected in series. Where oil head 
lights are used, three lamps are in a group 
in the middle of the car, and one on each 
platform. In this case a small double 
break switch is provided for cutting the 
current off from the lights. Where elec¬ 
tric head lights are used, each platform 
lamp is connected in multiple with a head 
light connecting block; and a two-way 
switch inside of the car makes it possible 
to throw either the platform lamp or the 
head light into the circuit. The lamps 
may sometimes refuse to light. This will 
probably be found to be due to one of 
the following causes: a broken or burned 


63 



out lamp, poor contact between one of the 
lamps and its socket, poor contact in the 
switch, a loose or broken wire, or a 
blown fuse. The remedies being,dn the 
.first case, to replace the defective lamp 
with a new one; in the second, to try 
every lamp, pushing it more firmly into 
the socket; in the third, to remove the 
cover of the switch and tighten contacts. 
If the trouble is not found to be due to 
any of the above causes, you should resort 
to the advice given in another part of this 
book, under the heading of “Information 
on Incandescent Light Circuits,” which 
will help you out of your difficult 3 \ 


64 


Information on Open Circuits and 
Sparking Brushes. 


The sparking of brushes will not be 
noticed if the arroature brushes and brush 
holder are in good condition. If there 
is any sparking it may be taken as an 
indication that something is wrong, and 
may be due to any of the following 
causes: poor contact between the brushes 
and the commutator. See that there is 
no looseness about the brush holder, and 
that the springs exert proper pressure. 
The brushes should fit closely upon the 
commutator, and not make contact only 
at one corner. See that the brushes are 
not wedged in the holders, that the com¬ 
mutator is clean, and that good brushes 
are used. An open circuit in the arma- 


65 



ture connections of one motor will cause 
a heavy current to pass through the other 
armature, and this may produce a steady 
flare of the commutator. A weak mag¬ 
netic field, caused by open circuit or short 
circuit, or wrong connections in the field 
coils, will also produce a steady flare, due 
to the heavy current. If the field circuit 
of a motor is not complete, owing to a 
broken wire, a "very heavy current will 
pass through the armature, sufficient to 
blow the fuse on the car or to burn out 
the armature. An open circuit in the 
armature will produce a greenish flash, 
which will appear to run around the com¬ 
mutator; while a short circuit in an arm¬ 
ature will be made evident either by the 
fuse blowing, or by a jerky motion of the 
car. If allowed to go on for any length 
of time, two bars of the commutator, about 
180^^ apart, to which the ends of the open 
circuited coil are attached, will gradually 
burn down flat, and the insulation between 
them and the adjacent bars will be par¬ 
tially destroyed. 


66 


The marks on the commutator will serve 
to show which coil has the open circuit, 
and this should be corrected at the ear¬ 
liest possible moment. There are two 
ways of doing this, one being to replace 
the defective coil with a new one, the 
other being to put on a jumper. To do 
this, the canvas cap at the commutator 
end is removed, the two ends of the 
defective coil disconnected from the com¬ 
mutator, and an insulated wire of the 
same size soldered into the two bars, thus 
connecting them directly together. The 
coil itself is not disturbed, the ends merely 
being cut off and insulated. This will 
not visibly affect the running of the 
motor, and this jumper may be left on 
until it is convenient to make more com¬ 
plete repairs, A fiat bar, or bars, will 
cause sparking and blackening of com¬ 
mutator, and should be remedied as soon 
as found, by smoothing down with a file, 
or turning the commutator off a slight 
cut and smoothing with fine emery cloth. 


67 


Some Questions Which You May 
he Called Upon to Answer. 


A.S it is an assured fact that all Motor- 
men runniug electric cars must sooner or 
later pass an examiuation before a Board 
of Examiners, I will now give you a syn¬ 
opsis of the questions you will be asked, 
and the answers, all of which you will 
find in this book. “Forewarned is fore¬ 
armed.” So, if you fail in the examina¬ 
tion you will have no one to blame but 
yourself, for they cannot ask you anything 
that does not actually pertain to your car 
and its workings, as you a^re not paid to 
know anything not pertaining to your 
car. 


68 



Some of these questions require very 
lengthy answers, but are very simple 
when you learn them by heart, and by a 
very little study on your part there is no 
reason why you cannot pass an honorable 
examination. 

You will be asked to define in part the 
term “ short circuit,” which has been 
sufficiently treated in this book. 

You will be asked what causes elec¬ 
tricity to heat. 

There is only one proper answer to 
this question, and that is “resistance.” 
Electricity must be resisted in order to 
cause heat. 

You will be asked to explain the term 
“ ground ” or “ grounded,” and its causes. 
This has been explained in another part 
of this book. 

You will be asked what kind of motor 
you are or have been running, their 
names, and the amount of electricity they 
are built for. This you will have to learn 
from your Superintendent or the elec¬ 
trician in charge, as I have no means of 


69 


knowing what particular make of motors 
you are running. 

You will be asked in case you could not 
reverse your car with the reversing device, 
what you would do. This question has 
also been fully treated of previously. 

You will be asked in case certain parts 
of your car should become disabled, what 
course you would pursue. This question 
you could answer correctly by memoriz:- 
ing the teachings of this book. 

You will be asked to trace out the cur¬ 
rent, beginning at the trolley wire and 
ending with the ground wire, naming 
every part of your car and motor as you 
proceed. As I have been very careful 
and accurate in my explanations of the 
current tracing, you have no reason for 
not being able to answer correctly. 

You will be asked what you would do 
in case your car becomes grounded be¬ 
cause of dirty rails. Most Motormen can 
answer this question, but for the benefit 
of those who have not had experience, I 
will say: connect the rail with any part 


70 



of your wheel or truck, with a piece of 
wire or any piece of iron you may have 
handy, and your car will start. All that 
is necessary is to get a clean connection 
with the rail. 

You may be asked what you would do 
in case your controlling cable should 
break on a car equipped with a rheostat 
controllor, and you were unable to use 
the controlling device. 

The answer is, throw off one of your 
overheads and gather up your broken 
cable and tie it up so that it will not 
come in contact with any other working 
part of your car. Then pull your traveler 
one-third of the way around on your 
rheostat, and control your car with the 
overhead switch. Take advantage of all 
down grades and run by gravity, so as 
not to heat your rheostat any more than 
possible. The traveler left in one place 
on the rheostat for any length of time, 
will become red-hot, and consequently 
burns out the resistance. 

You will be asked how you determine 


71 


how many miles per hour you are travel^ 
ing. This question will be asked for 
i^arious reasons. For instance, in case of 
an accident that would result in the 
Motorman’s arrest^ he would be called 
upon to state the rate of speed he was 
running at the time of the accident. The 
manner of determining the rate of speed 
a car is traveling, is very simple. All 
you have to do is to count the number of 
rails you pass over in twenty seconds, and 
it gives you the number of miles per 
hour. 

You also have orders from your Super¬ 
intendent not to run faster than a certain 
rate of speed over different parts of the 
road, therefore you should keep this rule 
in mind. 

Other questions may be asked you,^ all 
of which you can easily answer by keep¬ 
ing this book constantly with you and by 
frequently referring to it. 


72 


Points of Interest to alL 


While employed as a Motormae, I was 
frequently asked by passengers as to how 
long an incandescent lamp would last, 
and I presume my readers have all been 
asked the same question. As we all like 
to be able to answer such trifling ques¬ 
tions when asked them, I think it will be 
well to give a little information on these 
points, as many of you, perhaps, have 
never heard how long they were supposed 
to last. 

An incandescent lamp, when used as 
they are supposed to be used, that is, not 
overtaxed by higher voltage than they 
are manufactured for, will last about one 
thousand hours. That is considered to 
be the average life of a lamp, or as long 
as they are supposed to burn, although 
they will, in some cases, burn twice that 


73 



letigtli of time. But they are Hot guar¬ 
anteed by the manufacturer for over one 
thousand hours. 

Another question that is quite fre¬ 
quently asked by the traveling public is, 
where does the current go to after it 
passes through the motors. This ques¬ 
tion is answered bystatiug that it returns 
to the generators at the power station 
through the ground wire that is laid 
along the track. 

Some one else may ask you how many 
revolutions per minute your armature 
makes. Of course that must be deter¬ 
mined by the number of miles per hour 
your car makes. If you have a thirty- 
inch wheel, and your gearing is of 
standard size, then your armature must 
make 3,379 revolutions per mile If you 
wish to find out how fast the armature 
revolves in your car, multiply 3,379 by 
the number of miles per hour your car 
runs, and divide it by 60, and you have 
it. For instance, if a car runs 20 miles 
per hour, the armature revolves 1,126 


74 


times pel* minute, and as they ate t’ery 
heavy, you can see by this wbat a great 
strain it must be on gears and pinions 
when you reverse your car when running 
at a high rate of speed. 

There is the trolley wheel also which 
causes a great deal of comment and argu¬ 
ment, as to how fast it travels on its 
axis. Very few men running cars ever 
stop to think how much wear there is on 
this little wheel which travels on the 
wire over their heads. The average size 
of trolley wheels is about nine inches, that 
is in circumference, which necessitates it 
to revolve 2,344 times per minute; when 
you are running at a speed of twenty 
miles per hour the revolutions it must 
make per mile are 7,040. 

While speaking of the trolley I will give 
you a little of my experience in regard to 
how I have procured the best results from 
a trolley. If the tension in a trolley is a 
trifle too weak, it will jump off the wire 
at nearly all overhead switches and 
crossings, especially if you do not cross 


75 


them very slowly; for every time the 
wheel strikes a little uneven place on the 
wire it will cause it to bound, and it sel¬ 
dom goes on the wire when it goes up 
again. On the other hand, if you have 
your tension too stiff, it causes unneces¬ 
sary wear on the wheel, and when it does 
come off, unless some one has hold of the 
rope, it is liable to break a span wire or 
bend the pole, or perhaps both. My ex¬ 
perience has been that a trolley gives best 
satisfaction with a tension of about fifteen 
pounds at the wire. That is, get a piece 
of iron weighing fifteen pounds, and tie 
it to 70 ur trolley rope. Get up on the 
roof of your car, place your trolley pole 
so that it will stand at an angle of 45 de¬ 
grees, and then adjust the tension so it 
will just balance the weight, and then 
you have got a tension that will give 
better satisfaction than I was ever able to 
obtain from any other amount of tension, 
and I have tried them in many different 
ways. 

That disagreeable, roaring sound which 


76 


is caused by the trolley wheel, and which 
causes so much annoyance to passengers 
can, in most all cases, be stopped by put¬ 
ting a little oil on the trolley wheel, as 
when they are allowed to run dry they 
will get rough and soon begin to cut the 
pin and bushing, which is the cause of 
the noise. 

I speak of these little things because 
the man who looks after all these troubles 
in his car, soon gains the endorsement of 
his Superintendent as a good man. For 
if he keeps everything in this line up in 
good shape, he is sure to have his car 
running much smoother in all respects 
than a man who pays no attention to the 
working of his machinery. I am sure 
there is a sufficient amount of self-satis¬ 
faction in having everything work nicely 
to pay a man for what little extra time it 
takes to keep them up. 

While I am allowing my pen to drift in 
this channel (of what may be termed 
novelties) I will just relate one more little 
trick of the trade which I have found 


77 


quite useful in a number of cases, and if 
you have heard it before, I beg your par¬ 
don for taking up your time with it 
But to those who have not heard it, it 
may some time help them out. 

Once I was on a run that made me the 
last man in the house, and I caught a 
large load from a party. In starting on 
a grade I blew a fuse and found that I 
had no other one to replace it with. After 
looking around in every place for a piece 
of wire of some sort to use as a substi¬ 
tute for the fuse, I was at a loss to know 
what to do. All at once I thought of a 
way out of my trouble, and opening the 
car door I asked if some lady would please 
give me a hairpin. This I got, and put¬ 
ting it in for a fuse, I was enabled to 
take my load to its destination. 

Again, should the carbons or brushes 
in your motor get to making a shrill, 
screeching noise, you can in most cases 
stop that annoyance by removing the 
brushes and rubbing a little lubricant of 
some kind on them. I would not recom- 


78 


mend you to use ordinary oil as it will 
gum on your brushes" and commutator, 
and cause them to flash. But if you will 
go to a drug store and purchase five cents 
worth of vaseline or paraffin gum and 
use it, it will stop this disagreeable noise, 
and will not gum up on your commutator. 
But never put on but just a little. This 
is also a good remedy for a controller of 
most any type that works stiff, as they do 
often, and thereby making them disa¬ 
greeable to handle. Just put a little of 
this lubricant on that portion of the con¬ 
troller which makes the contact, and you 
will find that they will work much freer. 


79 



Conclusion. 


In writing this book it has been the 
author’s intention, as has been previously 
mentioned, to confine himself exclusively 
to the working of street R. R. motors; 
and while I have not endeavored to ex¬ 
plain each different type of motor (of 
which their are a great many) separately, 
still I think I have given you just such 
information as you need, and such as you 
have been searching for in vain. 

This book has been written so as to be 
utterly devoid of all theoretical or scien 
tific explanations, as it is not intended for 
that class of men. It is gotten up for 
Motormen only, written in Motormen’s 
phrases, and confined to the principles of 
these most popular machines, and as the 
fundamental principles of all street R, R. 


80 



motors are controlled by the same rules, 
I think I am giving you something in this 
book that will prove beneficial to you no 
matter what type of motor you may be 
handling. 

And as a conclusion I would say that, 
if you will commit the contents of this 
little book to memory, and allow your¬ 
selves to be governed by its teachings, 
that you will, in the majority of cases, 
meet with success in your attempts to 
locate and overcome little troubles such 
as most frequently present themselves to 
you. And in connection with these teach¬ 
ings, keep yourselves familiar at all 
times with the rules and orders of your 
superintendent, (which are usually posted 
on the43ulletin board), and there is little 
doubt in my mind but what you will be 
able to gain the endorsement of any su¬ 
perintendent in whose employment you 
may be, and at the same time you need 
not fear the consequences of any examina¬ 
tion which you may be subjected to as to 
your ability as a Motorman. 


81 


In writing this edition it is the author’s 
intention to make it indispensable to 
every man running an electric car; to 
make his duty more of a pleasure than a 
task. 

As the author has served as an em¬ 
ployee of several different companies, and 
in all capacities, he feels competent, and 
at the same time it is his duty to com¬ 
municate to street railway employees the 
following method of behavior and obe¬ 
dience to their employer. 

Speaking from experience, if you follow 
these suggestions, you cannot fail to hold 
your position. 

It is true that companies owning and 
operating electric railways are becoming 
very strict, and consequently keep their 
employees in a state of constant fear of 
being discharged, which makes their duty 
doubly arduous. 

Every time an obnoxious order is posted 
upon the bulletin board, or an order that 
will seemingly make their duties more 
unpleasant, there is a general kick among 


82 


the men, and knowing that they have to 
submit or step down and out, puts a rov¬ 
ing disposition into their heads, thinking 
they can find another road that is not so 
strict. But this is a mistake, for you will 
find them all the same. 

Nine-tenths of all the men running on 
cars are always looking for an.d trying to 
locate the superintendent or his assistant, 
and I don’t know of a case where any good 
came of this, for if you know the exact 
location of these distinguished gentlemen, 
you will commit yourself a thousand times 
to a spotter, thinking you are O. K. The 
ends ot every street car line are seemingly 
left unguarded, and are, so far as the 
superintendent is concerned. But don’t 
forget that he has the means, of knowing 
every move you make, while you think 
you are safe. Therefore, if you wish to 
retain your position, or even if you do not 
wish to retain it, you had better adhere to 
the following rules, and you can always 
obtain ano.ther position in case you wish 
a change. Bemember that when a com- 


83 


pany employs you, it does not only em¬ 
ploy you to run its cars, but to run them 
according to its plans and dictation, and 
knowing that you have to conform to its 
rules and regulations or leave, I will say, 
go to the bulletin board and familiarize 
yourself perfectly with all rules and 
orders, and when you start out of the car 
house with your car, you do so with the 
knowledge that you are going out to work 
for your family or yourself, at so much an 
hour, or a monthly salary, as the case may 
be. Go out resolved to live up to every 
order and rule laid down by the company. 
Lay all ideas and notions of your own of 
running a car aside, and adhere strictly 
to their way, and the way they pay you 
for. By SO’ doing you have dispensed 
with all fear of being discharged for dis¬ 
obedience of orders, for they certainly 
cannot discharge you for obeying their 
own orders. 

If you discharge your duties accord¬ 
ing to this doctrine, you can face the Su- 


84 


perintendent at any time without fear of 
having incurred his displeasure. 

If you should in the discharge of your 
duties commit yourself, or do something 
that you feel that you are to blame for, 
at your first opportunity go to the Sup¬ 
erintendent and tell him the exact truth 
of the matter, or trouble in question, and 
if there is a spark of manhood in him he 
will set you right by requesting you to be 
careful in the future. 


85 


4 







I^^DEX 


PAGE 

Epitome of Contents. 3 

Introduction. 5 

Car Wiring. 12 

Terminator Field Wires,. 16 

How to locate trouble in a car while 

running on the road. 17 

The proper way to cut out different 

motors. 19 

Instructions for operating and care of 

K controllers. 22 

How to locate trouble in a reverse 
switch, and how to overcome it.... 24 
Hqw to reverse a car in order to obtain 

best effects. 26 

Information on incandescent light cir¬ 
cuits . 41 

Electric motor force, or how armature 

rotation is obtained, etc. 48 

How to increase the speed of a car by 

changing two connections . 53 

General information on Westinghouse 
motors. 55 


87 














Westin^honse fuse block. 6i 

The Westinghouse lightning arrester. . 62 

Westinghouse lamp circuit. 63 

Information on open circuits and spark¬ 
ing brushes. 65 

Some questions which you may be called 

upon to answer. 68 

Points of interest to all. 73 

Conclusion . 80 

Diagram of Car. 89 





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